Slow Fade: A Year
by winterserenity
Summary: Reno has a girl. Reno's girl is going to have a baby. You know what they say, "A lot can happen in a year." RenoxOC Post-DoC Rating for cussing, sex, and, well, general Reno-ness. Inspired by "Nine Months" by Jezzi-BEM
1. Month One, Week Three, Day Four

"Ah, Reno, we, uh, need to talk."

"Ah, shit. Here we go," he sighed and clopped his feet up on the cafe table.

Triss laughed, "It's not what you think."

"Well, what?" He took a deep drag of his cigarette. "What are you, pregnant?"

"Well, now that you mention it-" she giggled nervously.

"Y-you're pregnant, yo?"

"Yeah."

He took his feet off the table and placed them flat on the ground. "Wow."

"Yeah."

"So, uh, what-" he trailed off, hand gesturing to the both of them.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," she said quietly. "'Cause, I'm having this baby."

"You are?"

"Yeah. If you're not ready for a kid, I understand. Holy knows this wasn't in my plans!"

"Yeah," Reno murmured, lost in his thoughts.

_She's gonna have a kid, yo._ My _kid. Holy shit._ Triss _is having_ my_ kid!_

"I'M GONNA BE A DAD, YO!"

Triss laughed as the entire restaurant looked at them, "It took you this long to figure that out?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he murmured. Reno hooked his toes around a leg of her chair and dragged it closer to him.

"So you're gonna be a dad, huh?" she asked him softly, leaning towards him.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I'm gonna be a dad."

"So," she asked, resting her head on his shoulder as he pulled her close, "how does it feel, Daddy?"

The redhead grinned lecherously and winked down at her.

"Well, babe, it feels pretty damned good," he said and brought the cigarette to his lips as she leaned away. "What's wrong? Why are you-" Reno began. "Ah! Fuck! Fuckshitfuck!" he cried as he stomped out the embers. "Why didn't you say anything?" he yelled over her laughter.

"I was gonna let you finish that one and then ambush you and say it was the last one you could smoke around me," she grinned up at him.

"Little devil," he chuckled.

_Yeah, this was gonna be all right._


	2. Month One, Week Three, Day Six

Reno knocked on Triss's door again. He was getting worried, she would skip work sometimes but she _never_ took this long to answer the door. He started to reach for his key when his PHS chimed. _Text message? What the fuck?_

_"Just let yourself in. I can't come to the door."_

"Babe?" he called as he swung the door open. "Hey, Triss?"

He heard a moan of pain.

He took off running through the house, "Baby! What's- oh." He skidded to a halt at the doorway to the bathroom and stared at the miserable sight before him. His ordinarily composed girlfriend sat on the bathroom floor, long legs splayed out awkwardly beneath her, dark brown hair piled on the top of her head, wearing his sweatshirt that she could practically swim in, her cheek pressed into the decorative, and more importantly cool, tile wall.

"I think I'm gonna die," she moaned up at him.

"Triss, honey," he chuckled as he slid down the door frame to sit next to her, "you're not gonna die."

She groaned again, "I wish I would."

They spent most of the afternoon like that, Reno gently rubbing circles on her sore back.

"Oh, no, not again," she whimpered and launched herself at the toilet.

_Damn. I hate this. She shouldn't be the one puking. I can't stand seeing her like this._ _Maybe this is pay back for all the times she had to take care of me. Dammit! Why couldn't it be Rude that's sick?_

She flushed the toilet and sighed, "Okay. I think that's it."

"Good!" Reno helped her stand.

"Ugh, water," she groaned and he chuckled. "Shut up," she growled over the brim of her cup, though he saw that smile of hers peeking out the corners of her mouth. _Can't fool me, little girl._

"You sure you're better now?"

"Yeah."

"Well then," he smirked and snaked an arm around her waist, "let's move this party somewhere more comfortable.

Triss chuckled and looked up at him, "So what match is on that you want to watch?"

"Oh, none," he grinned and winked down at her.


	3. Month One, Week Three, Day Seven

"Oh, fuck," he heard her groan into the darkness.

"What, babe? You feelin' sick again?" Reno asked, concerned.

"No," Triss sighed. "I just realized, I have to give notice."

"Whaddaya mean, 'give notice'? You quittin'? Leavin' me at Tseng's mercy?"

"No," she chuckled. "I have to give notice before I apply for maternity leave."

"Oh," Reno whispered. "So we can't just pretend you're getting fat?"

"No!" she laughed and whacked him in the face with her pillow.

"Oh, so _that's_ how it is!" he smirked and reached for his pillow.

"No!" she yelled and preemptively struck him. "_That's_ how it is!"

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that!" Reno said as he brandished his pillow.

"Bring it, Red!"

A few minutes later, all was quiet in the little house once more.

"Hey, Reno?"

"Yeah, babe?"

She pressed a kiss to his chest, "Do you really not want to tell the guys you work with? 'Cause I can ask for a transfer to a different department."

"Nah, baby. You can stay," he said and kissed the top of her head. "I got no problem braggin' to the guys that they're outta luck 'cause the sexy secretary that they all want in _their_ beds is too busy havin' _my_ kid," he grinned and pulled her closer.

_That, and I'd miss you too much._


	4. Month Two, Week One, Day Three Part One

_Inside "Seventh Heaven", if you managed to sneak in past the sign that said 'Closed for Private Party - Please come again!', you would have encountered a gathering with many familiar faces..._

"Hey, hey! Everybody! Shut up! I'm ready to make my announcement!" Reno shouted over the din of the bar.

"Get on with it, already!" Yuffie shouted across the room.

"I will!" Reno shouted back. He cleared his throat and composed himself.

"I," he started and slipped an arm around his girlfriend, "AM GONNA BE A DAD!" He grinned from ear to ear and the entire bar exploded in noise.

"You're joking!"  
"No way!"  
"Congratulations!"  
"Triss, why didn't you tell me?"  
"How far along are you?"  
"Do you have any names picked out?"  
"Is it a boy or a girl?"  
"Good job, man."  
"I _knew_ you two were hiding something!"  
"Congrats, sweetie!"  
"So I guess you'll be leaving us soon, huh?"  
"Oh, she won't leave for nearly a year!"  
"I can't believe it!"  
"Reno! How could you go and knock up the tech girl?"  
"It's a step up from what we'd expected of him."  
"Yeah! We all thought you'd just knock up a secretary!"  
"Oh, a baby! This is gonna be so _wonderful!_"  
"Are you kidding? Can you imagine little chibi Renos running around?"  
"Oh, no. This is gonna be a disaster!"  
"Did he propose?"  
"Did _you_ propose?"  
"Are you two gonna get married?"

Triss laughed loudly and cried, "Hold it!" Everyone grew quiet. "This is why I didn't want to tell them," she grinned up at her boyfriend and the bar erupted in protests.


	5. Month Two, Week One, Day Three Part Two

Reno smirked as walked across the bar, away from the crowd of people. Nearly everyone in the bar was fawning over Triss, like discovering she was pregnant made her some rare animal and everyone just had to get a look.

He leaned against the wall next to his stoic partner. He knew that behind the shades, the bald man's eyes shifted to him and he saw the almost imperceptible change in Rude's face. _"Congratulations."_

Reno smirked. _"Thanks."_

Words, they have so much power and yet there's times when they're so unnecessary.


	6. Month Two, Week One, Day Four

Yuffie Kisaragi walked into the break room just as its occupants burst out in laughter.

"What's so funny?" she asked and bounded over to the table the three suits (as the Turks were now ever so creatively called) and one tech-girl-gone-secretary had crowded around.

"Nothing, Yuffie," Elena said, still laughing. "It's an inside joke."

"Yeah," Reno drawled and leaned back in his chair. "It's a Turk thing. You wouldn't get it."

"Well, she's not a Turk!" the ninja cried, pointing at Triss.

"Try telling them that!" the pregnant woman laughed and jerked her thumb towards the other occupants of the table.

"But they're not Turks either!"

"We were, though."

"But you're not anymore! So you can tell me now!"

Reno laughed and looked over his shoulder at the thief, I mean, _spy_.

"Tol'ja ya wouldn't get it," he grinned.

"You- you're so- STUPID!" the ninja girl yelled and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

The group burst out laughing again.

"I still can't believe she asked that!" Elena choked out between giggles.

Rude wiped away tears of laughter and threw his voice into a pitch frighteningly similar to Yuffie's, "_Are you gonna get married?_"

Triss leaned hard on Reno, who had collapsed in her lap, as she to suck air into her uncooperative lungs, wiping away her own tears of mirth.

It really _was_ an inside joke, but it wasn't just the Turks who got it. Rufus got it. Reeve got it. In fact, anyone with the security clearance to access Triss's file would get the joke. Of course, because of some of her work with Shin-Ra and now with the World Regenesis Organization her file was incredibly confidential and not very many people were interested in _her_ background anyway. So the joke was kept secret, which was probably for the best.

You see, the joke is, Reno and Triss are already married.

They had been for a long time. Well, long by Reno's standards anyway.

Eight years tonight, back when they were just nineteen, Reno proposed to Triss on bended knee with the pop-top off of a beer can in the middle of the Golden Saucer. She had laughed and feigned the blushing bride and they ran off to a quickie wedding chapel and got married by a man with an accent so atrocious they fought back laughter the entire ceremony. They got a free hotel room upgrade to the honeymoon suite when Triss had, in jest, squealed to the receptionist that they'd just gotten married.

And so, every year since, Reno made sure they had that room for their anniversary. And, just like that first night, they would stay up and laugh at their idiocy and the insanity of the whole thing.

They would eat and drink and watch bad movies.

They would have raunchy sex in the light of the television.

They would get ice cream and booze and toast the chapel they were married in.

The would wander around hand in hand, secretly mocking the 'lovey-dovey' couples around them, grinning ear to ear and saying, "It's our anniversary," to anyone who would listen.

Of course, the Turks didn't find out until the next day when Reno strutted into the office with a hangover that would have left Odin bedridden, but a huge smile on his face and crowed, "I'm married, yo!"

Cissnei had squealed, Yuuko nearly choked on her drink, Arma and Tseng seemed too shocked to move, Rude and, much to everyone's surprise, _Veld_ burst out laughing and congratulated the redhead. And the other boys? Well, they sat with their faces buried in their hands, mourning the loss of their drinking buddy.

When Elena had found out years later because she threw a fit that Reno got a _whole weekend_ off, she honestly didn't believe it. It took Tseng saying that it was true and that he signs Triss's check, so he would know, for her to _very_ grudgingly accept it.

Of course, now the blonde girl would ask (or harass, depending on who you speak to) Reno about it, making sure he booked the room in time. And, much to the redhead's annoyance, she was always _shocked_ that he made sure to have the room months in advance.

_"Well, it's just- the way you are-" she stumbled the first time Reno had confronted her. "It's easy to forget that you're not a screw up. What I mean is," she amended, "sometimes I forget that you really do care about her."_

_"Of course I care," Reno had replied. "She's my wife."_

_Elena had smiled and looked up at him, "Yeah, and you're definitely a good husband."_

Of course, as soon as she said that, Reno covered her mouth, whispering that she can't just _say_ things like that. He doesn't need the whole _world_ knowing he's a good husband!

Still, every year, he takes Triss to the Saucer and celebrates his anniversary with his wife and he enjoys every second of it. Though, this year, there's gonna be less booze and more food, if that kid of theirs has anything to say about it.

Every family has skeletons in their closet, especially theirs, so, when you find one that makes you laugh, you keep it up front and forget about the rest. Holy knows they need a good laugh now and again. No one was surprised that it was Reno who provided it.

Though, the redhead smirked as he and his wife walked to the airship, he wouldn't complain if he wasn't the butt of the joke and so he sent a silent thanks to the young girl sulking across the hangar who made his family laugh with him.


	7. Month Two, Week Four, Day Six

Warm, cheery sunlight glistened through the soft lace curtains and filled the room with a gentle glow. A small clock on a bedside table started happily chiming.

"Son of a bitch!" SLAM! The happy clock flew into a wall and proceeded to fall to the floor in tiny bits.

A male voice chuckled softly, "C'mon, babe. Ya gotta get up."

"But, they're gonna stick me," a large pile of blankets whined.

A man-sized lump climbed atop the other lump beneath the large pile of blankets.

"Reno! Unless you're going to magically cure my morning sickness and screw me in the elevator, you'll stop that right now!"

The male voice chuckled again and purred, "Well, I do have one idea for a cure, I just need a, uh, _patient _to test it on."

"RENO! Turning my morning sickness into motion sickness is _not_ curing it!"

"Well, technically-"

"Technically, I'm still sick! So it's not a cure. Now getoffa me so I can have sadistic nurses stab me with needles because I'm carrying _your_ child."

A woman with long black hair emerged from the covers and a redhead flopped back and laughed.

"Love ya too, babe."


	8. Month Three, Week Two, Day Four

"So, what _is_ Reno to you, exactly?"

Triss chuckled and looked over the rim of her glasses at the young secretary before her.

"Don't you think he's a little old for you, sweetheart?"

The girl gasped indignantly. "I'm not as young as I look! And you still haven't answered my question."

The black-haired woman laughed outright. "Normally, I don't answer questions like that because the people who ask that have no business knowing, but you remind me an awful lot of myself when I was your age and I know what I was capable of," she grinned and winked. "So, I'll tell you."

The girl nodded and Triss had to stop herself from laughing again at the look of concentration on her colleague's face.

"Reno is my best friend, my boyfriend of almost ten years now, my roommate, my punching bag, my favorite pillow, my body guard, my security blanket, my worst enemy, my favorite sparring partner, my coffee maker, my masseuse, my dance partner, my alarm clock, the only person I know who has a chance of out-drinking me, and the father of my child. And I suggest you stay away from him or you'll have to deal with me. And that's all there is to it," the head-secretary finished matter-of-factly. "Or were you looking for something else?"

"N-no, ma'am. Thank you," the young girl said meekly and set the papers she'd been sent to deliver down in her superior's inbox and rushed out the door.

"Aw, I think you broke her heart," a voice chuckled from the speaker on Triss's desk.

"Was that _really_ neccesary?" another asked.

"Like I said, she reminded me an awful lot of myself and we _all_ know how I was at that age."

Triss let out a small shriek as she was scooped up in someone's arms.

The redheaded Turk grinned and kissed her, "Yes, we do."


End file.
